Working together for critical thinking in schools
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Working together for critical thinking in schools
Peter Ellerton, The Conversation, 2017/02/17
The focus of this article is critical thinking in the South African context, and in particular the recent Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) and Thinking Schools South Africa (TSSA), "a non-profit organisation encouraging and resourcing the teaching of effective thinking in schools." More...
Distance Education Price and Cost Report
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Distance Education Price and Cost Report
Russell Poulin, Terri Taylor Straut, WCET, 2017/02/17
It's no surprise to anybody that distance and online courses cost students more (a least, when they're offered by traditional educational institutions). But more controversial in this WECT report (79 page PDF) is the contention that they cost more to produce. More...
Building Global Community
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Building Global Community
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, 2017/02/17
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a manifesto yesterday afternoon stressing the importance of community and Facebook's role in developing it. More...
Maybe College Isn't the Great Equalizer
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Maybe College Isn't the Great Equalizer
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 2017/02/17
Two things have held up through decades of research on education and its impact. First, socio-economic background is the single best predictor of educational outcomes. And second, education is a necessary but not sufficient precursor to increased socio-economic outcomes. More...
CLOs, Move From Conduit to Curator
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. CLOs, Move From Conduit to Curator
Greg Pryor, Chief Learning Officer, 2017/02/08
A CLO is a 'Chief Learning Officer' and the point of this article is to suggest that CLOs shift their role from being a 'conduit' of knowledge and information to being a 'curator'. More...
The Security Impact of HTTPS Interception
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Security Impact of HTTPS Interception
Zakir Durumeric, et.al., 2017/02/08
The state of web security is, um, awful. Specifically, with respect to HTTPS, here's what this pointed study reports. More...
The Path to Prosperity
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Path to Prosperity
Advisory Council on Economic Growth, 2017/02/08
The Canadian Government's Advisory Council on Economic Growth has released a set of five papers under the heading of 'The Path to Prosperity'. Here they are:
- The Path to Prosperity: Executive Summary (PDF 356 KB)
- Unlocking Innovation to Drive Scale and Growth (PDF 697 KB)
- Building a Highly Skilled and Resilient Canadian Workforce through the FutureSkills Lab (PDF 1.04 MB)
- Unleashing the Growth Potential of Key Sectors (PDF 1.4 MB)
- Positioning Canada as a Global Trading Hub (PDF 730 KB)
- Tapping Economic Potential through Broader Workforce Participation (PDF 506 KB)
The second (FutureSkills Lab) and Fifth (Workforce Participation) have the greatest impact on education and training. More...
The Shattered Mirror, Part Two: The Underwhelming Recommendation for Open Licensing at the CBC
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Shattered Mirror, Part Two: The Underwhelming Recommendation for Open Licensing at the CBC
Michael Geist, 2017/02/08
Michael Geist has authored a two-part review of The Shattered Mirror: News, Democracy and Trust in the Digital Age (108 page PDF), released by the Public Policy Forum in January (part one, part two). More...
“Xenophobia”
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. “Xenophobia”
Alex Usher, Higher Education Strategy Associates, 2017/02/07
You can split a lot of hairs by saying that 'xenophobia' means 'fear of foreigners' and then saying you don't fear them, you just want them treated differently. More...
Next Generation Repositories
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Next Generation Repositories
Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR), 2017/02/07
The Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) has released a report as a part of its efforts to define a vision for resource repositories. More...
